Исполнитель нефтяной компании подал в суд на Starbucks из-за ожогов от горячего чая на неустойчивом столике

Oil exec says ‘wobbly’ Starbucks table left him with ‘debilitating nerve damage to his genitals’ in hot-drink lawsuit Exclusive: Oil-and-gas executive Vladimir Podlipskiy, 63, says the coffee chain was negligent for allowing a ‘wobbly’ table to remain in service - Bookmark A Starbucks customer suffered “debilitating nerve damage” to his genitalia when a hot cup of tea spilled on his lap after being placed on a “wobbly” table, according to a federal lawsuit reviewed by The Independent. Oil-and-gas executive Vladimir Podlipskiy, 63, ordered the beverage while meeting with colleagues in August 2024 at one of the Seattle-based chain’s coffeehouses in San Diego, his complaint states. “During the meeting, a Starbucks employee asked [Podlipskiy] multiple times to move closer to his table,” the complaint goes on. “The table was unstable, loose, defective, and/or wobbly. [The employee] knew or… should have known that directing customers to move closer to an unstable table while a hot beverage was present created a foreseeable risk that the hot beverage would spill onto and burn a customer.” And that’s precisely what happened, according to the complaint, which was initially filed June 24 in San Diego Superior Court and removed to San Diego federal court on August 6. Without warning, it says the tea suddenly spilled onto Podlipskiy’s “lap, groin area, and genitals, causing catastrophic burns and injuries,” including “disfigurement, debilitating nerve damage to his genitals, physical pain, mental suffering, [and] emotional distress.” Podlipskiy did nothing to cause the spill, the complaint goes on, laying the blame entirely on Starbucks’ purported failure to “exercise reasonable care with respect to the preparation, handling, service, securing, and presentation of hot beverages, and with respect to the safety, inspection, maintenance, and stability of tables and seating areas used by customers such as [Podlipskiy].” Further, the complaint continues, Starbucks was negligent in “directing, requesting, and/or requiring [Podlipskiy] to move closer to the unstable table while a hot drink was present.” Starbucks had a legal responsibility “so as not to expose customers… to foreseeable risks of harm from hot beverages, unstable tables, and unsafe seating conditions,” the complaint contends. It claims the company failed to do that when its employee served Podlipskiy a hot tea with an unsecured lid on a wobbly table, and then “repeatedly” asked Podlipskiy to scoot his chair forward, creating a dangerous situation. In an email on Wednesday, attorney Nick Rowley, who is representing Podlipskiy, told The Independent that his client “was served a scalding cup of hot tea that did not have the lid on right. He was handed a burn. Multiple witnesses saw this happen.The spill caused horrific burns to his penis and groin resulting in permanent disfigurement and sexual dysfunction. As we have done so in the past, we intend to hold Starbucks fully accountable for its negligence.” Starbucks did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment. However, in an answer filed August 6, the company denied Podlipskiy’s allegations and claimed he “may have failed in his duty to mitigate his damages.” “Among other issues, Plaintiff may have failed to seek timely or recommended medical care, and/or failed to take any or appropriate action in an attempt to reduce or eliminate any alleged scarring or pigment changes,” the filing said. Rowley has successfully sued Starbucks in the past, over similar claims by other clients. Last year. Rowley won a $50 million jury verdict for a Postmates driver who also suffered severe burns and disabling nerve damage to his genitals after a “negligently” secured hot drink he was picking up at a Starbucks drive-thru spilled onto his groin area. In 2020, Michael Garcia showed up at a Starbucks in South Los Angeles to collect an order of three venti-sized Honey Citrus Mint Teas, which he argued had been improperly secured in their cardboard carrier. According to Garcia’s suit, one of the cups was only pushed partway down into the holder, and it fell out as he brought the order inside his vehicle, sloshing scalding tea onto his lap. Garcia said his penis was left permanently discolored and disfigured, and that sex was now extremely painful. “This jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility,” Rowley said in a statement at the time. For its part, a Starbucks attorney said the company disagreed with the verdict and that it was “committed to the highest safety standards” in handling hot drinks. The court subsequently added an additional $12 million onto the verdict, for a total of $60 million, “because of Starbucks’s frivolous defenses,” Rowley told The Independent. Beyond fast-food, a 56-year-old Philadelphia man sued Frontier Airlines in 2024 after sustaining third-degree burns and being “left with disfiguring scars on his genitals and thighs” after a flight attendant allegedly spilled hot tea on his lap. AsThe Independent first reported, Sean Miller’s complaint detailed the “highly unsightly and embarrassing discoloration,” along with “significantly decreased sensation,” “post-traumatic stress disorder,” and “lack of self-esteem,” plus at least one herniated disc he suffered while writhing in distress. Perhaps the most famous hot beverage lawsuit was filed in 1992, after 79-year-old Stella Liebeck was grievously injured by a hot coffee spill at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Although Liebeck became the subject of mockery on late-night talk shows, she in fact suffered horrific third-degree burns across six percent of her body in what her physician called one of the worst scalding cases he had ever seen. Liebeck offered to settle for the cost of her medical expenses, about $20,000, but McDonald’s refused. A jury then awarded Liebeck $2.7 million in punitive damages, which a judge later reduced to $480,000, for what he deemed “willful, wanton, reckless” and “callous” conduct on the part of the hamburger chain. In his complaint, Podlipskiy argues that his injuries were not limited to physical ones, claiming he has also endured emotional distress and is on the hook for continuing medical expenses. He is now demanding general and special damages to be determined at trial, plus legal fees and court costs. A joint discovery plan by both sides is due to be filed September 4.